Critical thinking using root definitions is a skill set that allows an individual, by themselves, to judge and settle disputes as well as set limits on what is considered to be morally ethical and correct manners of someone who has one’s behavior in society. However, critical thinking is much more than its root definition. Critical thinking is skillfully defining, intellectualizing, analyzing, and evaluating data and information gathered from all sources and producing belief and action in rhetoric that provides clarity and consistency through evidence and reason. The steps to critical thinking as a skill set, using the Trivium Method of Critical Thinking: Grammar (Input), Logic (Processing), and Rhetoric (Output) in that order. It is a never-ending process for determining the truth in any subject and situation. Critical thinking is a necessary skill for all to have if we are to enjoy a peaceful life and true freedom while respecting the natural rights of everyone around us.

 

(Knowledge of that which exists) answers the question of the Who, What, Where, and the When of a subject.

 

It is not only the rules developed and applied to the ordering of word/concepts for verbal expression and communication, but our first contact with conscious order as such. This is the initial, self-conscious technique used in properly (discursively or sequentially) organizing a body of knowledge from raw, factual data for the purpose of gaining understanding (through logic) and; thus, also organizing the individual human mind. It is the foundation upon which all other "methods of organization and order" are built.Special grammar properly relates words to other words within a specified language like English, Russian,or Latin.

 

General grammar relates words to objective reality in any language and applies to all subjects as the first set of building blocks to integrated or fully mindful, objective knowledge. A body of knowledge which has been gathered and arranged under the rules of general grammar can now be subjected to logic for full understanding, which, emphatically, is a separate intellectual procedure.

 Cited from: Tragedy and Hope

 

 

(Understanding of the interrelationships of that which exists) answers the Why of a subject.

 

It is a guide for thinking correctly; thinking without contradiction. More concisely, it is the art of non-contradictory identification. The work of logic is proof.Proof consists of establishing the truth and validity of a concept or proposition in correspondence with objective, factual reality by following a self-consistent chain of higher-level thought back down to foundational, primary concepts or axioms (i.e., Existence, Consciousness, and Causality). It is a means of keeping us in touch and grounded to objective reality in our search for valid knowledge and understanding. Logic brings the rhythm of the subjective thoughts of the mind, and the subsequent actions of the body, into harmony with the rhythm of the objective universe.

Cited from: Tragedy and Hope

 

 

(Communication of Grammar and Logic) provides the How of a subject.

It is systematically usable knowledge and understanding to explore and find the proper choice of methods for cogently expressing the conclusions of grammar and logic on a subject in writing and/or oral argumentation (oratory). The annunciation of those conclusions is called a statement of rationale; the set of instructions deduced from the rationale for the purpose of application (of those conclusions) in the real world is called a statement of protocols.

Cited from: Tragedy and Hope